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Banega rues lengthy Valencia layoff

Valencia midfielder Ever Banega revealed that the hardest thing about breaking his leg was not being able to kick a ball for eight months.

The Argentine midfielder injured himself in a freak accident after leaving the handbrake off his car at a petrol station, which led to the vehicle rolling back and crushing his left leg back in February.

At the time the 24-year-old was part of Valencia’s side gunning for success in the Champions League, and although he missed out on the rest of the European campaign, it was the months away on the sidelines which frustrated him the most.

“The worst thing was not the time of injury, but the length – no time passed,” the ex-Boca Juniors man told El Pais ahead of Valencia’s trip to Minsk on Tuesday to face BATE Borisov in the Champions League.

“Physical therapists and trainers weren’t sure if they could (help me). Broken bones can only be healed with time.”

Banega takes in one benefit from his lengthy spell out, saying: “Before I had not valued where I was, but now I do. Suffering makes you more mature.”

Head coach Mauricio Pellegrino has expressed his delight with the return of the Argentine and the new possibility for him to work in the midfield with his countrymen, Fernando Gago and Tino Costa.